1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to blast protective structural systems. More particularly, the invention relates to protection against terrorist bombing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is widely believed that a building subject to explosive blast loading has a chance to remain standing only if it possesses some extraordinary resistive ability (Bulson, 1994). This belief rests, obviously, on the assumption that the specific impulse or the time integral of pressure, which is the dominant characteristic of the external load, is beyond our control.
Fortunately, the last statement is just half-true. We, actually, cannot control the magnitude of the load itself but we can influence the timing of its application to structural elements as well as the pattern of interaction of those elements, and this may make a difference.